Choice
by rosai-gryffindor
Summary: As Harry struggles with emotions, he comes up against the difficult thing: choice. Pretty, charming, Chinese, darkhaired intelligent Ravenclaw Cho...Or feisty, beautiful, freckled, funny, redheaded Gryffindor Ginny. A HarryGinnyCho fic, books disregaded.


Choice

A Harry/Ginny/Cho fic.

_**At Hogwarts…**_

Harry sat in the stands around the quidditch pitch amongst the mass of cheering and gasping Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who were supporting Ravenclaw in the first match of the season against Slytherin. He stared out intently into the blue sky above the perfectly tended green pitch, watching the figures on broomsticks whiz round in many blue and green blurs. He was supposedly watching the tactics of both teams and picking up any tips on how to beat them, as his team would have to play both during the course of the year, but his gaze was drifting to one certain blue clad player, his attention on the game fading as he watched a girl with sleek, shiny black hair fly above the game searching for the snitch…

Recently, this girl Cho Chang had been in his thoughts a lot. He sighed as he watched her. She was stunningly pretty with her Chinese features and slim figure, and flew extremely well considering the slightly out of date model of broom she was riding. She had also taken to talking to him whenever she passed him in the corridor, slowing down to walk by his side with a 'Hi Harry!'

Sometimes, if they were heading the same way they would walk to lessons together, chatting comfortably about anything that came to mind. He could talk to her as easily as he could to Ron and Hermione, and enjoyed her company...

A roar of sound interrupted his thoughts, and Ron grabbed his arm in excitement. The score was Slytherin: 120, Ravenclaw: 125. One of the Ravenclaw chasers had apparently scored, putting them closely in the lead. He turned his attention back to the game, watching as the Ravenclaw beaters aimed a bludger at one of the Slytherin chasers. The target; short, burly, ugly, and thick as two concussed trolls, saw the heavy ball heading his way, panicked, and threw his arms up to his face, thus having said heavy ball smash right into his chest and knock him straight off his broom!

A wave of laughter and boos swept the stadium. In front of Harry, in the stand below, a young girl with a mane of blazing thick red hair caught his attention as she immediately started imitating the accident. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her humour; she made him laugh a lot these days, and looked very beautiful when she was having fun. He knew her very well, having known her since his second year, as she happened to be his best friend Ron's little sister. She used to be quiet and shy around Harry, the effects of a very big crush on him, and he hadn't really taken much notice of her. However, for a year now, she had seemed to come out of her shell when around him, and he noticed her character a lot more. She was feisty, and funny, and brave, and the more he hung around with her, both in the holidays at The Burrow, and in the common room at Hogwarts, the more he liked and enjoyed her company…

She turned to look back at him at that moment, and smiled, chocolate brown eyes sparkling. He smiled back at her, eyes melting into her gaze…

'And Cho Chang has seen the snitch! Look at her go…' the commentator interrupted and Harry's eyes snapped back up to the sky in time to see the pretty Ravenclaw going into a spectacular dive, the Slytherin seeker hot on her tail. All thoughts of Ginny were lost as he willed her to get there first, cheering her along with all the other supporters; 'GO CHO!'

His wishes were granted. Cho stretched out her arm as she sped closer to the fluttering, golden snitch, and gracefully closed her hand around it. The Slytherin seeker dived into the ground as she flew straight upward, snitch raised in triumph.

'RAVENCLAW WIN!' Came the final announcement, and the crowd went wild.

A week later the grounds were covered with a white sprinkle of snow, and decorations had been hung up around the castle, providing a very festive atmosphere. Harry had been invited to The Burrow for the Christmas holidays, along with Hermione, so their trunks were all packed and ready the evening before the end of term. Harry was just heading back to the common room that very evening, with Ron and Hermione, after a very filling meal, when Cho ran up to him asking if she could have a word.

Harry smiled at the sight of her. She was wearing a sparkling midnight blue roll neck jumper and tight jeans, her long hair tied back in a ponytail.

'Sure!' he agreed, stopping, and Hermione dragged Ron away, who had stopped as well, giving the dim red head a meaningful look.

Once they had rounded the corridor Cho took Harry's hand in a friendly way, leading him along the hallway to a more private spot.

'I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas, Harry, and to give you your gift now,' she said softly, pulling out a tiny wrapped parcel from her pocket before resizing it with a spell.

Harry felt really pleased and a warm feeling filled his insides as he took it from her.

'Thank you,' he whispered, looking into her blue, almond shaped eyes. 'Merry Christmas to you too, Cho.'

She looked happy and met his gaze, then stood on tip toe and kissed him quickly and lightly on the mouth, before smiling sweetly and walking away, leaving him standing in the corridor like a statue, touching his lips where hers had been just a moment ago.

_**At The Burrow…**_

A shower of snowballs hurtled through the crisp, cold air amongst shrieking and laughter, as they hit their targets. Harry got hit in the face by one thrown by none other than Ginny, who laughed her tinkling laugh at him in a friendly way, her cheeks flushed and healthy from the cold, strands of red locks coming out from under her woolly hat, and her eyes sparkling cheekily at him. Harry grinned. She was so dead for that! He scooped up a handful of snow and ran towards her. She shrieked and ran away, him chasing her round the field to the orchard. They were both well matched from training for quidditch, she ran lightly across the snow occasionally glancing back at her pursuer, who was gradually gaining on her. Eventually, she came upon a snowdrift and had to slow her pace, causing Harry to catch her up, and grinning wickedly, tackle her to the ground, flicking snow at her.

He slipped, and fell on top of her warm body, both of them breathing heavily and grinning. He looked into her lovely brown eyes. It was just beginning to snow again, and the flakes caught in her eyelashes like crystals, her rosy cheeks glowing, her nose dotted with small freckles. For a long moment they stared into each other's eyes, lost in the gaze of emerald green and melted chocolate. Harry's lips moved closer, they were almost touching hers…

Thwack!

'Ha ha, got you!' Came Ron's voice as his snowball hit Harry on the back. Then he saw what position his best friend and sister were in, as they scrambled hastily to their feet, blushing. 'What the bloody hell was just going on?' exclaimed Ron, 'you…my sister…what?' he spluttered, looking mad.

'Um, nothing, Ron, nothing was going on, I just, um, tackled her to the ground, that's all. I was getting revenge for her hitting me with a snowball in the face.'

Ron's face relaxed a little. 'Well in that case…it had better only have been that, Ginny!'

'And why, exactly, Ronald?' asked Ginny, hands on her curvy hips.

'Because, because…you're my little sister Ginny! Imagining you with some guy, mucking around, it's just wrong!'

Ginny looked enraged. 'It's none of your business, Ronald, what I do with guys, so shut up and grow up!' she said sharply and stormed off.

**_Christmas…_**

Harry fell asleep that night, Christmas Eve, thinking of Ginny and what had happened. It had been a great fun afternoon with her, until Ron had spoiled it. He closed his eyes and her face swam before his eyes, lips smiling, glistening with the snow…

He woke up on Christmas Day to the sound of laughter and Christmas carols playing on the radio from downstairs. At the foot of his bed sat a pile of presents, bright wrapping inviting him to open them. He hummed a tune, happy, as he tore off the paper from each one, exclaiming at the gifts within. He came to one wrapped in gold snitch paper, the snitches actually zooming round on the wrapping. With a surge of delight he saw it was from Ginny, and he opened it to reveal a photo framed in beautifully carved wood. It was of him and her out in the snow, throwing snowballs, and laughing as the off spray sparkled around them. 'Wow, Ginny!' he murmured, a sudden strange feeling rising in his heart that he'd never felt before. He placed it lovingly on his bedside table and turned to the last gift. It was Cho's.

His heart beat nervously as he remembered her kiss back on the last night at Hogwarts. That had been special too…He opened the present, and a beautiful small gold model of a Firebolt tumbled onto the bed, where it hovered, realistically, buzzing slightly as a tiny snitch zoomed around it, along with a quaffle and two bludgers. It was stunning. A whole load of affection for Cho came rushing to him, and again, he remembered the touch of her lips on his. Then he looked at the photo Ginny had given him, and the memory of almost kissing her came flooding back, along with that feeling he can't quite explain…And he felt totally and utterly confused.

_**At Hogwarts…**_

The following term brought the run up to the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor game, which meant that both Ginny and Harry had a lot of practises most evenings, where they got to spend a lot of time together. Ginny was an excellent chaser and Harry often found his performance slipping as his eyes had trouble keeping focused on the game, instead staring at Ginny, which caused a few accidents his way from bludgers! He enjoyed the time they spent together very much, she made him laugh and make light of serious situations, which could bog him down. Nothing further happened like at Christmas, to his disappointment yet also relief, as he wasn't sure of his feelings for her, and then there was Cho…

Due to the quidditch practises he wasn't seeing her much, but they still met in the corridors between lessons, and would have a friendly chat. Often, in the few times he saw her in lessons he would stare at her dark shiny hair, and think back to the night she had kissed him, but again was relieved nothing more had happened as he didn't know how he was feeling for her either.

As the weeks went by he became closer to both girls than ever before, yet still couldn't suss out his feelings. Then a strange thing happened, which was that Ginny and Cho became friends! They were suddenly hanging around together in their spare time, going around arm in arm, giggling in corners, and playing quidditch together.

When he asked them about it, they answered that they had been to a charms club one evening, and few other people turned up, none of whom they got on with, so they paired up, and found they had a lot in common. This meant that Cho realised the struggle Harry was going through in liking both her and Ginny, but she said nothing, he should sort it out himself. It made Harry grin, once he got used to seeing them together, one dark haired, one red haired, both a similar height, and both attractive. They could almost be sisters!

Then Dumbledore made the announcement. There was to be a Valentines Day ball for fourth years and up, and it was couples only. So anyone without a partner wouldn't be allowed entry. This put Harry in a difficult dilemma, ruining the stabilised situation. Should he ask Ginny, or Cho, to go to the ball with him?

There were obstacles in asking either girl, he thought. With Cho, there was now such a lot of rivalry between them due to quidditch, as neither could stand the possibility of losing to the other. With Ginny, there was the problem of Ron. He'd psyched out at Harry possibly 'mucking' with his sister in the snow, what would he say if Harry asked her to the ball! But he knew he had to make a decision soon, or it would be too late…

Three days later Harry was sitting down in the common room. He had gone for a walk with Cho that afternoon. It was she who suggested it, very nicely, and he'd been glad for the time alone with her. They had walked out into the cold but sunny air and gone to the lake, sitting down by the waterside, under the bare branches of a tree, Cho leaning against him and making ripples in the clear water by swirling her hand just under the surface…He had felt very happy being with her, they had not had any time together for ages. She had looked very beautiful, long hair hanging loose and cascading over her shoulders, and again, he had felt the warm feeling rise within himself as he watched her calmly in the peace of a Sunday afternoon…

The portrait opened and Ginny appeared, causing his heart to leap a little at the sight of her. She made her way over to him, red hair swaying, and freckled cheeks dimpling as she smiled at him. 'Hey Harry.'

'Hey,' he said warmly back.

She looked out the window at the now dark and starry sky. 'Want to go for a walk?'

Harry jumped at the chance. 'Sure! I'll just get my cloak though; it'll soon be after curfew…'

Ginny nodded, looking cheeky. 'Exactly…more of an adventure, Mr Potter!'

Harry felt a slight shiver at her words and grinned slightly, leaving for the staircase up to the dormitories. He was back within the minute, carrying the silvery transparent cloak that had once been his fathers.

'Ready?' he asked, and flung the cloak over his shoulder, beckoning Ginny to slip under with him. It was a close fit, and they had to stay pressed close together in order to stay completely covered, but neither seemed to mind as their bodies touched. Harry could feel the heat radiating off of her, and his skin tingled where his bare hand brushed hers. In that fashion, they made their way down to the side door, which luckily Filch never remembered to lock, and out into the clear, bright, starry night.

They walked down to the lake, its still surface shimmering like a huge mirror, to a grassy bank on the opposite side to where he had sat with Cho earlier that afternoon. They sat down comfortably next to each other, Ginny's shoulder touching his, and gazed out at the landscape bathed in moonlight.

'Let's lie back and look at the stars,' suggested Ginny softly. 'I used to do that on hot summer nights back home at The Burrow, it's amazing how small they make you feel.'

Harry smiled, and leant back until he was lying on his back. Beside him Ginny did the same, her body lightly touching his. Harry looked up into the universe, the dark sky scattered with stars of many sizes, constellations and clusters, making it seem like a globe. His heart was filling with that strange feeling again as Ginny sighed beside him. A shooting star sparkled once then disappeared. 'We should make a wish,' whispered Ginny, taking hold of his hand. Harry shivered slightly, but not from the cold.

What seemed like hours later he reluctantly sat up. 'We should be getting back, Ginny, or people will notice we're not in our beds.' He said.

She nodded and sat up beside him. 'You look cold,' she murmured.

'I am just a little,' admitted Harry.

Ginny took off her coat, revealing a zip up fleece that was a bit big for her. 'Wear this…I'll be warm enough in my coat, I put on too many layers!'

Harry looked worried. 'Are you sure?'

She nodded and handed it to him. It was still warm. He took it gratefully, and put it on under his light quidditch jacket, the first top he had grabbed before coming out.

'Thanks,' he said softly.

'No problem,' she murmured, smiling slightly.

The following morning Harry woke up late, tired from going to bed at midnight, and found out he was still wearing Ginny's fleece. He smiled; it smelt lightly of flowers. Luckily his friends were all down at breakfast, so nobody could comment, especially Ron, who would probably recognise it as his sister's.

After dressing properly he headed down to breakfast. From down at the Ravenclaw table Cho waved at him as he made to sit down between Ginny and Ron. He smiled and waved back, then helped himself to toast. Ginny's leg touched his under the table, causing him to feel something not unlike an electric shock. He moved away quickly at the touch, and found his cheeks going red as she turned to smile at him. Why was he acting like that? he thought, Cho never made him blush!

The school started to make their way to the first lesson. Ginny stood up. 'See ya Harry,' she said, smiling again. He felt a swoop in his stomach. 'Yeah, bye Gin!' The words just tumbled out of his mouth. Gin?Since when had he called her Gin?

He watched as she ran up to join Cho, who was waiting near the double door, and followed the two girls with his eyes as they said something to each other, contrasting heads close together, laughed, then left the Great Hall, arm in arm. How would he ever choose between them?

But Harry's time was running out, he would have to make a decision soon. As he sat in History of Magic class that morning, it gave him the perfect time to think clearly and seriously about his dilemma.

He weighed up the situation in his head. If he were to choose Cho, there would be the problem of her being in a different house. He'd hardly see her, and they'd argue about quidditch, probably often getting mad at each other for winning or losing, as they were rival seekers. Plus he'd hardly see her in the holidays, as they wouldn't be living close to each other.

With Ginny, however, she was in Gryffindor with him, so could spend a lot more time with him in the common room during spare time, she was on his quidditch team, so they would always get on about that, and he always spent his holidays with the Weasleys, so he would be able to be with her a lot out of school. Plus, he knew it would break Ginny's heart if he asked Cho out, as he had known her for years now and knew that she'd always fancied him, and seemed to even love him, never giving attention to any other boys, despite them being attracted to her.

Cho, on the other hand, had only this year started to get to know him and fancy him, and she often flirted with other boys, having lots of admirers. Whatever she may seem to feel, he knew he wasn't her one and only, yet if he chose her he was sure she would be faithful…

He frowned, still not come to a decision. So he looked deep into himself, replaying all the special moments with both, and thinking carefully about his feelings at that time.

There had been the time Cho had wished him merry Christmas, and kissed him on the lips. He had felt a warm feeling, affection, pleasure, what was the word…friends. It had been nice, but he now realised it had felt good in a friendly way.

Then there was the snowball fight with Ginny. He recalled looking into her eyes, seeing love in them, melting into her gaze, his lips moving naturally towards hers, and that strange alien feeling in his heart, which he now realised was…love.

He thought about being with Cho by the lake, it had been special…but felt no different to if he had been with Ron or Hermione.

The memory of lying beneath the starry night, Ginny by his side, taking his hand in hers… her whisper, 'we should make a wish'… waking up wearing her jumper, the sweet smell of flowers…then Cho waving at him from the other side of the hall at breakfast, smiling, causing that warm feeling of being friends…

And he realised at that moment, just as the lesson ended, that Ginny was the one. That what he truly felt for her was love.

**_At the Valentine Ball…_**

Harry danced in the flashing pink and gold lights, his arm around Ginny's waist, her soft red hair flowing down her back, and bright brown eyes shining as she smiled and laughed. He twirled her around, pulled her close, and felt the happiest he'd ever been. Then he glanced over at Cho, who was dancing with Cedric Diggory; laughing, smiling and happy, and then back into Ginny's loving gaze, and knew, no matter how hard the decision had been, that he had made the right choice.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this story! Please leave me a review letting me know what you think!**

**Rose :)**


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